Ethos

(August 22, 2006)

God it's early. It's like stupid o'clock. What am I doing up.

Thank you, people who emailed me after yesterday's entry. I didn't have that bad a day, comparitively. Nobody bombed, gassed or tortured me. I have it easy.

Hey. Isn't this the day the world is going to end? It's August 22, right? In that case I'd better show you one of the photos JoeyBear took of me.

I hate my picture. At any weight, any scenario, I always come out looking like badly sculpted Claymation. I am not photogenic. I'm crooked, it doesn't work. But T max emailed me requesting a new photo for The Noise, because the latest shot he has of me is four years old, taken by Kim Genereaux. "Your hair is so much longer now!" he said. Also, he'd already used Kim's photo in one issue, and he used it to Photoshop me to look like a Klingon. I remember that I didn't know he was going to do that, and I remember snarfing my Grape Crush when I casually flipped through The Noise and saw it. "Why did he add a little goatee?" I mused, then called him. "You know, there ARE female Klingons and they are actually beard-free." But he said he tried it without the beard and liked it better hirsute. More Klingon-y.

Recalling this incident with Joe, I said "Baby, you'd make an excellent Klingon." He was genuinely touched. "Thank you, baby!" He even indulged me when I asked him to recite, "You are without honor!" Honor is very important to the Klingon credo. Klingons, man. They may be somewhat cranky warriors but they have a killer ethos. They also have two stomachs, two livers, 23 ribs and an eight-chambered heart. Can't bust 'em.

Anyway, Joey took some pictures of me, here's one.

That framed text is The Desiderata, a famous poem by Max Ehrmann that I contemplate daily, as this framed version hangs right above my dresser.

The first line says, "Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence." There's more. You should Google it and print yourself a copy. Max won't mind. In fact, no one will.